Home for the Holidays
by paulinemcc
Summary: Gail and Holly spend Christmas apart


**Home for the Holidays**

Holly dropped her suitcase onto the bed in her brother's guest room. It was a lovely spacious room with an en-suite and couch and massive TV on the other side of the room, it even had a small balcony with a chair and table set that would have perfect views of the sunset in a few hours.

But she had her unpacking to finish. She may just be staying for a few day but her bag's contained Christmas gifts for the rest of her family as well as clothes. Not that she would need much given the weather in southern California even in December.

She frowned as she came across a thick jumper, she had no idea how it had gotten into her bag, and she'd certainly not packed it. She didn't think so anyway, but lately her head was all over the place so maybe she had.

Sighing she picked it up and moved it into the bottom drawer but as she did something fell to the ground.

Leaning down she picked up an envelope that was addressed to her and she grinned because the writing on it belonged to Gail. She sat on the bed and turned the envelope over in her hands, unable to keep the large grin off her face. The blonde officer had stayed over last night and had insisted on driving her to the airport before her night shift.

"Why you sneaky…" She couldn't believe Gail had snuck something into her luggage. It made her feel all warm inside and she had to force herself not to rip the envelope open to see what was inside.

Gail was a strange girl and Holly genuinely had no idea what to expect from the blonde.

Plus it was Christmas Eve so Holly really should save this until later.

As hard as it was Holly rested the envelope on top of the woolly jumper and closed the drawer.

"Hey, you done yet?" A voice at her bedroom door asked and Holly turned her head to spot her younger sister Elizabeth stood there with a flashing Santa hat on that went with the skimpy red outfit she was dressed in.

"Almost." Holly replied as her sister moved into the room and sat down next to her suitcase.

"So what do you think of Cameron?" Their brother's five week old son.

"I haven't seen him yet, Kelly was feeding him when I arrived." Holly told Elizabeth.

Elizabeth grinned. "Ah, yes, breast is best, although I'm sure you're already a big fan yourself." The younger girl teased Holly.

Holly tried really hard not to picture Gail in her head and sent her sister a glare.

"Speaking of," Elizabeth started again as Holly continued to empty her suitcase of the last of her clothes. She eyed the few wrapped boxes but presents had to wait until tomorrow at lunch before they could be exchanged. "Any news on the girlfriend front?" She asked curiously.

"Still single." Holly muttered hoping she'd be spared from this same conversation topic for the rest of her visit if she could get it over and done with now. "What about you? Susan right?" Holly asked referring to the girl who she thought her sister was dating, but she'd never met her and Elizabeth hadn't spoken about her lately in their weekly phone calls.

Elizabeth shrugged. "She's with her family in Ohio, I'm with mine." She explained before getting up and heading for the door. "You should hurry up and come down before mom and dad arrive, then you'll have missed the chance to get drunk."

Holly shook her head as her sister disappeared as quickly as she'd arrived.

Once she'd finished unpacking and had her gifts ready to take down stairs in the morning Holly fished her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and checked to see if she had any missed messages or calls.

She had two, both from Gail.

She knew the blonde was doing the night shift so she grinned and pocketed her phone, she'd get to them later and maybe text or call the blonde before she went to bed herself.

Right now she had a nephew to visit with.

xxxxx

"Slow night." Oliver said as he drove around the city looking for drivers over the limit, but so far the streets were fairly empty of other cars.

"What did you expect? It's snowing." Gail muttered as she glared out the window. She wasn't a fan of the cold, not when she had to patrol in it. "Guess we should check that out." She said as Oliver slowed to a stop at the underside of a bridge.

Part of their job at this time of year was to try and make sure the city's homeless were as safe as possible. A string of deaths from the cold looked bad for the city.

With a sigh she got out and reached for her torch and made her way to the tarps she could see blowing with the wind as Oliver trailed behind her. She approached cautiously because a disturbed junkie could be a very dangerous thing and she had no wish to spend the rest of her shift in the ER.

Crouching down beside the make-shift home Gail eyed Oliver to make sure they were both ready then slowly eased the tarp up to look inside.

"Jesus." She muttered under her breath as she spotted huddled forms of children with frightened eyes staring back at her. She looked to Oliver but he was already on his radio asking for transport. They'd take them to the nearest shelter that had room.

Gail shone her light into the space and saw the kids all looked like they could do with a wash and a decent meal. Then she met a pair of eyes of an older woman, the mother possibly, she looked tired and resigned.

"Hey, it's okay, we're going to get you guys somewhere safer, and get you something to eat. Doesn't sound too bad, right?" Gail said keeping her voice low and calm.

"Are you a cop?" One of the children asked and Gail turned to the boy. He looked no more than five. "Are you going to take us away?"

Gail shook her head. "We're going to get you some place warm okay, it's not safe to be out here in this weather." She replied softly.

Then Oliver tapped her on the shoulder and she closed the tarp back over and stood.

"Ten minutes, we're going to have to take them to St Ives." Which wasn't local but it was Church run which meant they'd be someone to cook and possible warm showers to be had. "I also put a call in to child services." Oliver added in a quiet voice.

"Good." Anything was better than seeing the kids in there back out onto the street once the seasonal goodwill disappeared in a few days. Gail refused to feel bad even if it meant splitting the family up, it had to be better than risking freezing to death out here under a few pieces of wood and bits of plastic.

Oliver nodded, feeling the same way. "God I hate this time of year."

It was easier to ignore the homeless when the weather meant it was less likely that they'd die of the cold in the middle of the night. It wasn't even the height of the winter season yet, that would come between next month and March.

"Let's just get this done." Gail said turning to eye the road and hope that transport would arrive.

Oliver eyed his partner. He'd volunteered this shift because it meant he'd get the next two off to spend some time with his kids but tonight had been the Peck family party and he had been surprised to see Gail in the parade room a few hours ago, she hadn't been rostered on.

"So what's the deal," He began slapping his hands together to ward off the cold and snow. "Not invited this year? What did you do?"

Gail knew exactly what he was talking about, especially given Steve had been talking about it all week. He'd busted a drug gang and Elaine was looking forward to showing him off to all the top brass that usually stopped by the party after work.

But Gail wasn't Steve, she had no desire to watch her mother gush about her brother to everyone and then eye her with that look of disappointment she always seemed to direct at her during these events.

She shrugged at Oliver. "Someone has to work." She answered.

"Yes, yes they do." Oliver replied in his usual chipper voice. He'd leave it alone if she didn't want to talk about it. He knew the blonde and Nick had broken up and he'd seen the way he followed Andy around the station which hadn't gone unnoticed by Sam either.

He sighed and turned his eyes to the road as well, bouncing in place in an attempt to keep warm. He could have gone back to the squad but he wasn't going to let Gail stand here on her own.

xxxxx

Holly was having the best time, she was sat in the den near the fire with Cameron asleep in her arms as she continued to rock him gently and his older sister, three year old Sophia, was asleep in her lap where she had curled up into a ball.

"Need a hand?" Karen, Holly's mother, asked as she smiled at the sight of her daughter surrounded by her grandchildren.

Holly grinned, reluctant to let go but she placed her nephew into her mother's waiting arms then reached down and picked up Sophia into her own arms.

"Guess it's bed time." She said as Sophia fussed a little before settling against her shoulder and going back to sleep. It was after midnight so it was no surprise the girl didn't wake.

Jason met the pair at the door. "Want me to take her?" He asked his sister, willing to take his daughter to bed himself.

Holly shook her head, she didn't get to see her niece or new nephew nearly often enough so she wasn't going to give up what little time she did have with the children.

Jason smiled and watched his sister start for the staircase. "Well you know where her room is and if she wakes up just read her something from the book beside her bed."

Holly nodded but she managed to tuck the girl into bed without any problem and closed the door over a bit, letting the light from the hallway shine into the room so Sophia could see if she did wake.

She thought about going back to join the other's in the kitchen where they were still trying to convince Elizabeth to transfer from Harvard Medical but Elizabeth wasn't hearing any of it.

It was where Holly had graduated from and she wasn't sure how she felt about her father trying to talk Elizabeth out of it while she'd always felt a touch of pride that her sister had followed her to the school. Jason had gone to Stanford as had their mother and father, although they had been in different social circles and not really got to know each other until they ended up at the same hospital after completing their studies.

Holly made her way to her room at the other end of the hall. She closed her bedroom door and picked up the wine and glass she'd snuck up earlier after dinner, and walked out onto the balcony to sit and relax for a while. She opened the bottle and let it rest as she got her phone out.

She had another three text messages, all from Gail.

She went to the first one.

_I hate you._

Charming, Holly thought with a chuckle. Typical Gail.

_I mean seriously, I'm risking frostbite protecting the drunks from freezing to death on their way home tonight and where are you? California. Sunny California. You couldn't have snuck me into your luggage?_

Holly laughed and reached over to fill her glass, taking a sip before moving on to the next text message which she'd received during the last hour.

_And don't you dare even think about staying down there, I don't care how much you love your family. What would I do? Yes. It is all about me. Remember that._

Shaking her head Holly could imagine the glare on the blonde's face as she threatened to come down and get her if she wasn't at the airport on the flight back when she said she would.

She went to the next text.

_People suck Holly._

They did sometimes. Holly wondered if something had happened during Gail's shift or if it had something to do with Gail's ex or maybe her family.

She almost wished she had stayed in Toronto this year but this was the first chance she'd gotten to meet Cameron in the flesh and she couldn't pass that up. Gail would be there when she got back and they would have dinner together and exchange gifts with each other.

The final text had come not twenty minutes ago.

_Merry Christmas Holly! xoxo_

Holly smiled and sat back with her glass. There was still a warmth to the breeze and she was going to enjoy the view for a while before she contemplated her response to Gail's text messages.

xxxxx

"Hey sis!" Steve said walking towards his sister's desk carrying something behind his back.

Gail looked up from her report to see Steve approaching. She narrowed her eyes at him wondering how drunk he was and how he had managed to escape from the Peck family home. She checked her watch and realised it was after two in the morning, he'd probably snuck out while their parents had passed out somewhere from all the eggnog that Steve spiked every year.

She put her pen down and looked around, the station was pretty empty, only a few faces she recognised spread about.

"Here." Steve said placing the wrapped box down with a flourish.

Gail stared at it. "That doesn't look like mom's head." She said with disappointment.

Steve snorted a cuffed Gail over the back of the head. "Even better."

"My transfer?" She asked with fake excitement.

Steve rolled his eyes and sat on her desk waiting for Gail to give it up and just unwrap the thing.

Gail sighed, ripping the paper away to reveal a box which she knew held some type of shirt or jumper inside. "Don't tell me Aunt Jane turned up this year?" She would often knit jumpers instead of giving proper gifts, like money or alcohol. And she knit badly.

Steve grinned and opened his jacket showing off the bright orange and red monstrosity that somehow passed as his gift.

"You shouldn't have." She muttered, lifting the lid a tiny bit only to slam it closed again and glare at her brother who started laughing his head off. Hers was pink, bright pink. Pink and green.

"Really, you shouldn't have." She repeated as she death glared him.

Finally Steve recovered and grabbed for the box. "Come on, I've got Brandy in my office." He said and he grinned as Gail shot out of her seat quicker than if he'd said their mother was headed their way.

Gail was all for a drink, maybe two. She looked around for Ollie but he was nowhere in sight, probably off somewhere calling Celery or his kids, or maybe he was with Sam drinking in some dark corner of the station.

Either way, she deserved at least one drink before she headed back out into the snow for more patrolling.

She climbed the stairs and followed after Steve as he pushed his way into the cubbyhole that was his office space. "Not bad." She said as she closed the door behind her and watched her brother dump the sweater box by the rubbish bin and reach into his drawer and pull out what looked to be one of their dad's favourite bottles. "Good work." She applauded him.

"Well it is the time for sharing." Steve replied with a chuckle as he found the glasses and poured a measure or three into each glass before handing one off to Gail.

Steve held his glass out as he started to make a toast. "So, good year?" He asked Gail tentatively, it hadn't really been a good year for her but he'd watched her closely the last few weeks and he'd seen her smiling more, so maybe things were turning around for his sister. And maybe he wouldn't have to smash Nick Collins' face up for hurting his baby sister again.

He was still working on that anyway, the longer he left it the less it could be blamed on a break up with Gail.

Gail looked away from her brother's knowing look. Holly's face had popped up in her mind the second he asked, but that had been followed closely by Jerry's.

"It's getting there." She replied softly.

Steve nodded and they clinked glasses before taking sips of the alcohol.

He sat down then and gestured for Gail to do the same.

"Want me to get you in on something with Guns and Gangs?" He asked.

Gail shook her head quickly. "No. Thanks, but things are going okay the way they are." The last thing she wanted was an undercover assignment that would take her away from Holly. They may just be friends right now but Gail was honest enough with herself to know that if it went further she wouldn't say no. Holly had been the nicest thing to happen to her in a very long time. And if all they ever were was friends then Gail wasn't going to risk it by taking off for who knows how long.

"Okay, well that was going to be my present this year." Steve replied with a touch of a pout. He didn't mind that she'd said no, it meant he could still keep an eye on her, but he knew their mother wouldn't take well to Gail remaining in uniform for much longer.

Gail rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't bother getting you anything anyway so I guess that makes us even." She told him.

Steve stared at his sister and they both grinned.

"Gun range?"

"Gun range." It was their little tradition. If they made it through the Peck family party they headed to the gun range and the person with the best score after 50 rounds had to grant the other a bye for something family related during the next year.

Only given that they were often three sheets to the wind by that point it wasn't really a fair shoot out, but that was kinda the point, a complete game of chance.

And it was fun.

Gail felt her phone buzz and put her drink down to get it out of her pocket. It was from Holly.

Steve watched as a grin took over his sister's face. He waited until she unlocked her phone and went to whatever message she'd just received before grabbing for the phone.

"Hey!" Gail complained as her cell was ripped out of her hands. She stood and rounded the desk to try and get it back but her brother turned his back to her and batted her hands clear as he started reading.

"He's cuter than you and just as much of a cuddlier?" He chuckled eyeing Gail before going back to the text.

"Steve, give me my damn phone." Gail growled making another grab for it even as she felt the blush overtake her face. "Steve!"

_But we're still on for dinner on Friday so I guess I'll have to let him go, you're lucky Peck! _ It read but Steve didn't repeat it out loud as he let Gail snatch the phone back.

"Asshole." Gail muttered shoving the cell phone back into the safety of her pocket.

Steve grinned and watched Gail down the rest of her drink. "Who's Holly?" He asked cheekily.

Gail glared at him and turned to leave.

"Gail?" He called again. "Do I know her at least?" He asked but his sister just gave him the middle finger before disappearing. He laughed and sat back down reaching for his own drink again.

By the sounds of things he wasn't the only one keeping a close eye on his sister.

Now he just had to work out who Holly was.

xxxxxx

Holly felt a hand slap at her face. She groaned and tried to ease over onto her back but there was a weight on top of her so she opened an eye and found the face of her niece very close to her own.

"Hey, baby girl." Holly said with a smile as Sophia grinned and patted her face again.

"You up?" Sophia asked, her eyes wide.

Holly chuckled and shifted, careful not to send Sophia tumbling on the bed.

"Yes, I am now, thank you for the wake-up call." Holly said, reaching over to the night stand for her glasses. It was six thirty in the morning.

Sophia leaned over to her aunt. "Santa come." She whispered nodding her head.

"Oh!" Holly exclaimed, "Should we go see?" She asked gently easing Sophia onto the floor and getting out of bed herself.

"Yes!" Sophia cried and raced from the room.

Holly shook her head then covered a yawn before looking for some sweats to put on. They were fairly relaxed as a family on Christmas morning, so pyjamas or the scruffy look were fine until lunch was nearly ready at which point you were expected to dress properly.

"Hey, she woke you too?" Elizabeth asked coming in through the open door to find Sophia had been in here as well.

"Did she wake you first?" Holly asked moving to hug her sister and give her a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas." She said.

Elizabeth smiled as they eased apart. "You too, and I'll have you know she woke me first because I'm the favourite aunt."

Holly rolled her eyes and grabbed for a tee. "Come on, I need coffee if this is me up for the day."

Elizabeth grinned. "Already made."

"Maybe you are the best auntie." Holly replied once more covering a yawn with the back of her hand.

"So what did you get me?" Elizabeth asked as she followed Holly down the stairs and past the den where Sophia and her parents were already sat around the tree looking the worse for wear.

Holly gave her sister a look. "My love not enough anymore?" She asked as she pulled a mug over and filled it.

Elizabeth snorted. "I take hard cash or credit, but I'll be okay with a bank transfer too." She stated in all seriousness.

Holly sighed into her mug and rested her back against the worktop. "I don't know sis, I'm pretty tapped out this year, new nephew and all."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"What do I get?" Holly asked curiously.

"My love?" Elizabeth replied blinking her eyes cutely causing her sister to laugh.

Karen Stewart walked into the kitchen in her nightgown and grinned at the sight of her daughters laughing together. "Morning girls." She greeted them, going over and getting hugs from both girls.

"Merry Christmas." They said.

"You didn't have to get up so early." Holly told her mom.

Karen waved her hand and went to make her morning tea. "Nonsense, this is normal." And it was, for individuals that worked shifts being up early or getting home early was just part of the process. "Why are you both even in here, you should be in there with those kids." She told her own children.

Elizabeth smirked at Holly and wandered off.

Karen noticed and turned to her eldest child. "So how are you? We haven't spoken in a while."

Holly grinned as she leaned back on the counter again with her coffee. "Things are good." And they were, Holly was probably in the best space emotionally and career wise than she had in years.

"No new love interest?" Karen asked softly watching her daughter duck her head out of the corner of her eye.

"No." Holly answered automatically, partly because it was true, she hadn't had a steady girlfriend since before moving back to Toronto, and because Gail was _just_ her friend.

A fact she tried hard to convince herself of every day lately.

"No?" Karen turned to Holly and studied her carefully. "Honey, we just want you to be happy." She said walking over and pressing a kiss to Holly's cheek before heading back for the den. "Come on, before we miss all the excitement."

Holly let her mother go and sighed to herself. She was happy, she was just a touch worried that she was projecting the feelings she wanted Gail to have for her.

She'd find out one way or the other eventually she guessed.

"Holly come on!" Came a shout from the den.

Holly smiled and started out of the kitchen. She did want to see how Sophia liked her gifts.

xxxxxx

Gail groaned as she tossed and turned in her bed. With a sigh she grunted and got up and closed her curtains before face planting back onto her bed but it was no good, she just couldn't sleep.

"Ugh." She turned onto her back and eyed the clock as she grabbed for her cell phone. It was after three in the afternoon which meant she'd slept for close to five hours. Not bad really.

As she checked her phone she noticed her mother had called her twice. Gail rolled her eyes having no intension of calling her back. She had no qualm in pretending to have lost her phone if she was cornered by the women at some point in the next few days.

She got up, not bothering to alter her shorts and academy tee given that Chris was down in Timmins for the next two days visiting Christian and Dov and Chloe were working today, meaning she had the place to herself and could wander around naked if she wanted to.

She stumbled over to the couch and threw herself down before shifting and turning the TV on to anything that was unrelated to Christmas. She felt like scrooge but that was understandable, Steve had won at the range and she knew he was going to cash in for the New Year party her parents always hosted, which gave her only a few days before she had to deal with her mother.

She pouted to herself and picked up her phone. Almost without thinking she found herself calling Holly. It was mid-afternoon so she wasn't likely to be interrupting much.

"Hey Nerd, how's the good life?" She asked suddenly wide awake as Holly picked up. "Did you get my gift?" She asked and listened to Holly explain that she'd found the card Gail had snuck into her luggage and got told off as Holly thought they wouldn't be exchanging anything until dinner on Friday.

Gail smirked proud that she'd got one over on the older woman. There had been two reasons why she'd done it this way, one it meant she didn't have to deal with seeing if Holly hated the idea and two, she hadn't wanted to make a fool of herself.

"Have you opened it yet?" She asked as she realised Holly most have moved to a separate room as the voices she'd heard in the background suddenly faded. "Well? What are you waiting for?" She asked when Holly admitted to still having the envelope sealed in her room.

She waited as Holly told her about her nephew and niece as well as the rest of her family and Gail rolled her eyes as Holly gushed about her family. But she wasn't jealous, ordinarily she hated listening to people go on and on about how great their lives were but Holly didn't set that reaction off.

Gail was actually happy that Holly had such a great family supporting her.

"So?" She asked when Holly told her she was opening it now.

"You bought me a star in my name?" Holly asked.

Gail couldn't tell if Holly was reacting well or not so she rushed to explain. "You remember when you took me to your place with the line 'I wanna show you something' which as lines go don't normally lead to star gazing into the small hours of the morning." Gail coughed as Holly teasing asked her what she'd thought she was referring to. "So anyway, you seemed to be into all of that and while you can't actually touch it and it might not actually exist anymore or something, I thought it fit."

Holly was silent on the other end.

Gail was convinced the pathologist hated the idea and hurried on to the second, more tangible gift she'd smuggled into Holly's bag. "Stupid right? Anyway, I tucked something into one of your jumpers so have a look for that." She told Holly just as her own door was knocked.

Gail frowned, she muted the TV and got up still with her phone to her ear. She opened the door only to find herself face to face with an unimpressed looking Elaine Peck. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you back." She muttered into the phone before cutting off the call and watching as her mother walked passed her into the apartment.

She rolled her eyes and slammed her front door close. "No please, come in."

xxxxxx

"Hey, where did you disappear to?" Elizabeth asked as she walked into the guest room Holly was using to find her sister holding a sports shirt in her lap. "What's that?" She asked curiously as she wandered over and noticed an open envelope and letter on the bed beside Holly which she picked up to read.

It was an ownership form for a star numbered 500123422 bought in Holly's name.

"Someone bought you a star?" She asked with a laugh. "Isn't that just a rip-off?"

"Give me that." Holly said snatching the sheet of paper out of Elizabeth's hand and took it over to her handbag to tuck it safely away.

Elizabeth shook her head and picked up the jersey that Holly had put down. It was a blue Maple Leaf ice hockey top "What's this?"

Holly rolled her eyes and snatched the top out of her sister's hands as well.

"Is that written on?" Elizabeth asked noticing black marker across a shoulder of the top. "Who's Mats Sundin?"

Holly's eyes widened, "Who is Mats Sundin?" She repeated incredulously.

"Okay." Elizabeth put her hands up. "My bad, but really what is this stuff?"

Holly smiled and ran her hand over the autograph of one of the biggest legends to play for the Leafs, a player she had watched during her years at undergrad and on her return to Toronto. She'd been sad to see him leave but to have this?

"Christmas gifts from a friend." Holly replied, with a stupid grin on her face before she turned her back to Elizabeth and tucked the shirt into her drawer.

Elizabeth's eyes widened at her sister. You didn't smile like that over a friend and a friend wouldn't have taken the time to get something like a signed sports shirt.

But Holly had said she wasn't seeing anyone.

"But seriously, a star?" She asked hoping she could get Holly to talk about however this person was.

Holly shot her sister a look. "Sometimes the things that hold the most magic to us are the ones that can't physically be touched." Holly explained.

Elizabeth shook her head at her sister's corniness.

"Come on, before mom comes looking for us." Holly said leading her sister from her room.

xxxxxx

Gail frowned as she opened her front door and pulled off her jacket.

"Hey, do you want your present now that you're home?" Dov asked spotting his housemate as he came in from the kitchen to sit down with Chloe on the couch.

Gail took one look at the pair and turned for her room. "Whatever, later geeks." She'd been stuck at her parents for the last few hours and had only managed to sneak out when Steve had called.

"Merry Christmas to you too Sunshine." Dov muttered as they heard Gail's bedroom door slam closed.

Chloe chuckled and snuggled closer to her boyfriend. He smiled down at her and they shared a kiss.

"Eww, I don't need to see that." Gail complained as she came back to grab a beer and returned to her room before Dov could think of a reply.

She opened the bottle and jumped onto her bed without even taking her boots off. After half the bottle was gone she picked up her phone and found a few text messages that had gone unnoticed while she'd been held hostage.

They were from Holly.

_How did you even get his signature?!_

Gail grinned, she'd had no idea who the guy was when she and Oliver pulled a car over for having its taillight out, but Ollie had and had been willing to ignore the ticket in favour of a signature, and when Ollie had explained to Gail who the guy was Gail had sidled up to the driver's side and chanced her luck by gushing over him and pleading with him for a signed top.

And she got lucky as it had arrived at the station the very next day.

Of course she wasn't going to tell Holly that.

_And I love the star._

"Oh, good." It had sounded like the star idea had been a bust but maybe not, Gail had thought it had been kinda neat but not much of a gift.

_Of course you now need to come over and show me where it's located, and it better be visible from this hemisphere!_

"Of course it is, duh." It would have been stupid otherwise. But again, it wasn't like Holly would be able to see much more than a blip of light surrounded by thousands of others.

_Call me._

That text had come in an hour or so ago and Gail debated whether or not to make the call, she didn't want to interrupt anything but her fingers were already going through the motions.

"Hey!" Holly's voice came over cheery and it made Gail smile.

"Hey, sorry it took me until now but I had to deal with my mother." She told her friend.

"No problem." Holly replied.

They both fell silent for a minute and it made Gail smile and finally let go of the tension her mother had created. "So how was your day?"

Holly chuckled in her ear. And Gail loved that, she loved that things with Holly were seemingly just easy and natural. They never had to force a conversation it always just came and even the moments of silence were calming.

"It's been, it's been great." Holly replied, her voice a touch husky.

Gail adjusted her position and drank form her beer bottle. "So? Tell me about it." She told her friend, wanting to hear all about this part of Holly she hadn't known beyond a few photos in Holly's home.

"Okay, well…"

xxxxxx

**AN/**

This is mostly a stand-alone but it does introduce a few characters from my other Gail/Holly fic.

Hope you all had a nice day!


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